U.S. security officials warned of Chinese government efforts to jeopardize critical pieces of American infrastructure, calling on the country to prepare itself to fend off disruptive cyberattacks. Disrupting telecommunications is part of the plan, officials testified before the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
The U.S. Intelligence Community has assessed that China is attempting to pre-position itself on U.S. critical infrastructure—”setting up back doors to cripple vital assets and systems in the event China invades Taiwan and therefore, limiting our ability to assist Taiwan,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told House lawmakers on Wednesday.
“It is Chinese military doctrine to attempt to induce societal panic in their adversary,” said Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly, describing what a Chinese government cyber attack could look like. “Telecommunications going down. People start getting sick from polluted water. Trains get derailed. Air traffic control systems, port control systems are malfunctioning.”
“This is truly an everything, everywhere, all at once scenario,” Easterly testified. “And it’s one where the Chinese government believes that it will likely crush American will for the U.S. to defend Taiwan in the event of a major conflict.”
Easterly stressed: “Unfortunately, the technology underpinning our critical infrastructure is inherently insecure because of decades of software developers not being held liable for defective technology that has led to incentives where features and speed to market have been prioritized against security, leaving our nation vulnerable to cyber invasion.”
She called on infrastructure outlets to work with CISA to secure free vulnerability scanning. “Every technology manufacturer must build, test and deploy technology that is secure by design. We have to drive towards a future where cyber actors cannot take advantage of technology defects to break into our critical infrastructure,” Easterly said.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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